Abstract
The ongoing global pandemic has threatened peoples' mental well-being, raising uncertainty about the future. The situation is devastating on the frontline and among essential workers in different industries. Employee Assistance Programmes (EAPs) have become important in mental health care and reducing the fear of uncertainty for workers, but these services are not well known among workers. This study was undertaken to clarify the role of EAPs in employees' mental well-being and sense of uncertainty during the pandemic. This study shows how effective EAPs can be during circumstances like the COVID-19 pandemic. Following the quantitative research design, this study tested the correlation between various EAPs and mental well-being along with a sense of uncertainty. It has also examined the impact of demographic variations on employees' mental well-being. The respondents are the frontline employees working in Australia's largest supermarkets. The questionnaire survey was conducted online using the SurveyMonkey programme. The correlation test showed that there is a significant and positive relationship between EAPs (training and plan and coverage) and mental wellbeing. Similarly, it showed that there is an insignificant and negative relationship between EAPs (training and plan and coverage) and the sense of uncertainty. Further results showed no influence of demographic variations on employees' mental well-being. This study provides several implications for theory and practice. This study offers some insights for employees, managers, and HR professionals and creates awareness among employers who are unknown of the effectiveness of EAPs and employees who are unaware of the benefits they can get under EAPs free of cost. This study implies that in uncertain situations like the COVID-19 pandemic how effective EAPs can be to understand, support, and boost the mental state & reduce a sense of uncertainties among the workers, especially the essential and frontline workers working in a supermarket, medical, and other critical sectors. This survey is limited to Australia's largest grocery chain. Other medium and small retail and grocery shops are not covered. Similarly, greater research into the whole retail industry may be necessary for more accurate generalisation. Further research can be done in different industries other than supermarkets and different locations or countries adopting a qualitative research approach and larger sample size for accurate generalisations.